High Court: Business and Property Division

The Government are pleased to support a judiciary-led initiative to modernise the structure of the High Court through the establishment of a new business and property division. This historic modernisation will ensure that the UK remains a global hub for corporate litigation.

It will bring together the current business and property courts into a single division, which will replace the chancery division.

The business and property courts are a collection of specialist civil courts that deal with high-value, complex disputes, including commercial, business, property, technology and intellectual property cases. These courts play a significant role in supporting the UK’s legal services sector and wider economy, with a substantial proportion of cases involving international parties.

At present, these courts are situated across both the chancery division and the King’s bench division. This arrangement can create challenges for users in navigating the system and leads to overlapping governance responsibilities.

Relevant business and property courts will be transferred into the Chancery division, which will be renamed the business and property division. Leadership of the new division will rest with the current chancellor of the High Court, who will assume the title of president of the business and property division.

The new business and property division will stand alongside the King’s bench and family divisions of the High Court. The individual courts and lists that make up the new division will continue their work as they do now, keeping their existing jurisdictions, identities and areas of expertise.

This reform is intended to deliver a number of benefits:

Supporting economic growth by strengthening the international profile and accessibility of these courts, thereby reinforcing the UK’s position as a leading global dispute resolution centre;

Improving access to justice through clearer structures and a more intuitive framework for domestic and international court users; and

Strengthening judicial governance by providing a single point of leadership.

Changes will be made through an Order in Council, which will be laid in Parliament in due course, alongside updates to the civil procedure rules, practice directions and associated court materials.

Further updates will be provided to the House as this work progresses.

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